1. Technical Field
Several aspects of the present invention relate to a droplet discharging head, an image forming apparatus, and a film forming apparatus.
2. Related Art
As the industrial application of inkjet technologies proceeds, droplet discharging heads are required to discharge more minute droplets in order to form a finer wiring pattern or the like. In order to make droplets to be discharged more minute, it is necessary to use an actuator that can be driven by high frequency signals and ensure necessary and sufficient displacements (see JP-A-2003-92437 as a related art example). To meet such necessity, for example, displacements of a piezoelectric element in the d33 direction can be effectively used.
In the aforementioned related art example, a notch is provided in a portion of a side of the piezoelectric element that is joined to a fixing plate for an individual electrode. This prevents a short circuit from occurring on the side of the piezoelectric element that is joined to the fixing plate. However, when a conductive diaphragm is used, a short circuit occurs on a side of the piezoelectric element that is joined to the diaphragm. Additionally, providing a notch in a portion of the piezoelectric element may make the shape of the piezoelectric element nonuniform when electrostriction occurs.